May 20, 1897] 



NATURE 



59 



for, judging from the extracts given in the daily press, 

 the gas to which the exploring party was subjected has 

 a peculiar effect upon the mind. As the minutes passed 

 by. Dr. Foster's notes became more and more disjointed, and it 

 is hard to believe that he knew exactly what he was writing 

 towards the end. The following are a few of the notes written 

 while he believed himself to be dying : — " I fear we are all 

 dying. No help coming. . . . The box does not come. In 

 spite of all our ringing for help, it will not come. Captain 

 Reddicliffe is struggling. No real pain. Good-bye. I feel as if 

 I were sleeping. Again, good-bye all ! 2.15 p.m. — We are all 

 done. Oh, for the box ! It is held in the shaft. ... It is 

 really like a bad dream. No pain. No pain. For the benefit 

 of others, no pain. . . . 2.25 p.m. — Twoof the party are all right. 

 I think they are ringing. When is help coming ? The box is 

 gone. Four new men are coming. I don't feel bad. It is 

 strange to write notes while we are dying. What a lot I have 

 written ! Captain Reddicliffe is about the worst. I think he 

 will go first. While there is life there is hope. Good old 

 proverb ! Send a note for more brandy. Send for more help. 

 The box has just gone up with Reddicliffe. Williams goes next 

 — he has a capital heart. 2.45. — T have written pages. Kewley 

 is a good fellow. There is life in the old horse yet. I feel as if 

 I could sing. God is helping us ; he has heard our prayer. My 

 turn to go." Arriving at the surface, and getting out of the box, 

 Dr. Foster, note-book in hand, though weak and staggering, 

 made the entry stating the time at which he got to the top. His 

 last entry was : — " Dr. Miller says I must be quiet, but I won't.'' 

 The pathetic side of this record, made by one who had almost 

 crossed the dark valley, but was happily brought back to tell 

 his tale, touches all of us. We admire Dr. Foster for his cool- 

 ness in time of danger, and for remaining behind until all his 

 party had been rescued. The world could ill spare a man with 

 such sterling qualities, and science would grieve to lose an 

 investigator who devoted what seemed to be his last moments to 

 extending knowledge " for the benefit of others." We offer to 

 Dr. Foster our heartiest congratulations upon his rescue, and we 

 trust that he may never again have to repeat his terrible 

 experience. 



The next annual meeting of the Australasian Association for 

 the Advancement of Science will commence on January 6, 



1898. 



• 

 M. SouiLi.ART, Professor of Astronomy in the University of 

 Lille, has been elected a Correspondant in the Section 

 d'Astronomie of the Paris Academy of Sciences, in succession 

 to the late Prof. Gylden. 



A Reuter correspondent at St. Petersburg states, on the 

 authority of the Novoe Vreniya, that an expedition is to be 

 sent by the Russian Geographical Society and Academy of 

 Sciences to study the geography and natural history of the 

 Khanates of Roshan, Shignan, and Darwaz. 



We learn from Science that Miss Alice Bache Gould has given 

 $20,000 to the National Academy of Sciences as a memorial to 

 her father, the distinguished astronomer. Dr. B. A. Gould. It 

 will be known as the Gould Fund, and the income will be used 

 to promote researches in mathematics and astronomy. 



A COMPLIMENTARY banquet will be given to Lord Lister at 

 the Cafe Royal, Regent Street, on May 26, by his former 

 house-surgeons, clerks, and dressers. A complete list is being 

 prepared of those who have been closely associated with Lord 

 Lister in his teaching career, which extends over a period of 

 thirty-two years — from 1861 to 1893. 



The vehicles entered for the Engineer iioo guineas road 

 carriage competition will be examined by the judges on Friday 

 NO. 1438, VOL. 56] 



and Saturday, May 28 and 29, at the Crystal Palace. The long- 

 distance run, between the Crystal Palace and Post Office in 

 Birmingham, will begin on Tuesday, June i. The distance over 

 the whole course, upon which the time allowance referred to in 

 the conditions will be computed, has been fixed by the judges at 

 263 miles. 



The Prussian Academy of Sciences have made a grant of 

 1 100 marks to Prof. Dr. Paschen, Hanover, for the study of 

 the energy in the spectra of dark bodies ; and of 1000 marks to 

 Dr. N. Herz, now at Heidelberg, for the reduction of observa- 

 tions made at the Kuffner Observatory, Vienna. Dr. O. 

 Butschli, Heidelberg, and Dr. A. Weismann, Freiburg, have 

 been elected corresponding members of the Academy. 



The Engineering Conference, organised by the Institution of 

 Civil Engineers, will be opened at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday, 

 May 25, in the large hall of the Westminster Town Hall, when 

 the President, Mr. J. Wolfe Barry, C.B., F.R.S., will deliver 

 a short address to the combined Sections. The several Sections 

 will then proceed to the consideration of their respective busi- 

 ness in the Town Hall and the Guildhall. The meetings will 

 be continued on the 26th and 27th, at the same places, at 10.30 

 each day. 



Mr. Robert C. L. Perkins, B.A. of Jesus College, 

 Oxford, who has been for several years engaged on behalf of the 

 Joint Committee appointed by the Royal Society and the 

 British Association for investigating the zoology of the Sand- 

 wich Islands, has now returned to England, and, we rejoice to 

 say, is in good health, notwithstanding all the hardships he has 

 undergone. A very instructive paper by him, on " The Intro- 

 duction of Beneficial Insects into the Hawaiian Islands," will be 

 found in Nature of March 25 last (p. 499). 



The summer meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great 

 Britain and Ireland will be held this year in Dublin, on June 9, 

 10, and II. A very large number of members have promised 

 to attend, and the meeting will be remarkable on account of the 

 numerous distinguished continental anatomists who are expected 

 to take part in the proceedings. Amongst these are Prof. His, 

 Leipzig ; Prof. Waldeyer, Berlin ; Prof. Stieda, Konigsberg ; 

 Prof. Spalteholtz, Leipzig ; Prof. Disse, Marburg ; Prof. 

 Klaatsch, Heidelberg ; Dr. Otis, Boston ; Prof. Leboucq, 

 Ghent ; Prof, van der Stricht, Ghent ; Prof, van Gehuchten^ 

 Louvain ; Prof. Retzius, Stockholm ; Dr. Kaestner, Leipzig ; 

 Dr. de Bruyne, Ghent ; and Dr. Frohse, Berlin. One of the 

 features of the meeting will be an address to be delivered by 

 Prof. His in the new theatre of the Royal Dublin Society, under 

 the auspices of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. 

 The subject which he has chosen for this address is the 

 "Development of the Brain, Cord and their Nerves." The 

 ordinary meetings of the Society will be held in the Anatomy 

 School of Trinity College. 



Mr. Lawrence Bruner, of the University of Nebraska, 

 has (says the American Naturalist) sailed to Argentina to study 

 the ravages of the locusts, which have recently developed into 

 a terrible pest, certain regions being completely devastated by 

 them. The Argentine Government has granted 400,000 dols. 

 for relief, and a syndicate of business men have raised funds to 

 employ Mr. Bruner to investigate the entomological aspects of 

 the subject. 



We regret to have to include in this week's obituary the 

 names of Prof. Legrand des Cloizeaux, member of the Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, and distinguished for his works on 

 crystallography and the optical properties of minerals ; Dr. 



